How do babies process emotional sounds?

Babies are very social, but there is little scientific knowledge about how young babies develop socially. The Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College London are looking to study social development in three month old babies to try and understand how social communication develops.

Their research is designed to provide both a better understanding of 'normal' infant development and to try and understand why some people go on to develop conditions in later life that involve problems with social interaction such as autism and schizophrenia.

They are looking to for babies between 2 and 4 months of age to take part in the study which will involve listening to sounds while being in an MRI scanner - this is a safe and non-invasive procedure. The session will take place at the Institute of Psychiatry in Camberwell and will take less than an hour. You will be reimbursed for your time and travel.

For more information on how you and your baby can participate in this study either

visit http://www.iop.kcl.ac.uk/departments/?locator=999

or email Dr Alex Thomson: alex.thomson@iop.kcl.ac.uk.